Influence of Combat Damage Analysis on Specifications for Marine Corps Helicopters

Since March 2004, the Joint Combat Assessment Team (JCAT) has been supporting the 3rd Marine Air Wing in conducting real-time assessments on aircraft damaged from combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). These assessments provide the operator and intelligence/survivability communities with timely threat and resulting damage information, which has not previously been available in the hours or days following damage infliction. Consequently, tactical decisions and/or changes can now be made in near-real-time upon receipt of these data. The survivability community can use the data from these real-time assessments to make better and more relevant decisions on future platform enhancements and changes. Trend analysis of JCAT data has resulted in influencing specifications for Marine Corps helicopters and has provided reliability data related specifically to combat incidents. The near future will bring a comparison of actual combat damage to modeling and simulation techniques currently employed within the survivability/vulnerability community.